Fans outnumber protesters at NikeTown

Anastasia Hendrix, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, February 23, 1997

1997-02-23 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Thousands of Nike fans swooshed through the gleaming glass doors of NikeTown on Saturday, eager to get their first glimpse of the three-story complex and its contents - despite the impassioned pleas of protesters outside.

Crowds outside the new Union Square store swarmed the corner of Stockton and Post streets as hundreds of demonstrators denounced the working conditions and low wages at Nike factories in Indonesia. San Francisco police arrested 19 protesters for obstructing the entrance.

"The women who sew Nikes can't afford to buy shoes - do you see the irony there?" shouted Michael Shaughnessy, a moral theology teacher at St. Ignatius High School. He stood behind metal police gates with other protesters waving signs criticizing the $2.20 daily wage earned by workers overseas.

Members of the San Francisco advocacy group Global Exchange passed out flyers condemning the company's

But those who waited in line - which wound its way around four blocks at one point - were blatantly blase about the issue.

"Just Don't Do It'

"I came here today to go to NikeTown and that's what I'm going to do - can't these people find anything better to do?" scoffed 11-year-old Ryan Walsh, ignoring the chants of those behind him to "Just Don't Do It." He said he couldn't wait to spend the $60 in allowance money he brought to buy hats, pins and wristbands emblazoned with the Nike logo.

He and his five friends then gladly took their place at the end of the line - one that began forming at 2:30 a.m., according to Nike spokesman Lee Weinstein. An hour before the 10 a.m. opening, 2,500 shoppers were waiting, he said, guessing that about 10,000 would visit the store by closing time.

"The crowds exceeded our wildest expectations," he said, raising his voice to be heard above the thumping rock music.

The protest, however, was expected.

"San Francisco is a town where people have a great many passions, and San Franciscans are very political by nature, so we expected some protesting," he said. A similar-sized demonstration took place last July at the Seattle NikeTown, and smaller ones occurred in New York and Los Angeles, he said.

Crowd watcher Josh Humphrey conceded that he could see both sides of the debate.

"A good product'

"I can agree with their concerns, but it's a good product, too," said Humphrey, who works at the Nike Shop at Macy's just a few blocks away and said he easily sells 10 pairs of $150 Nike shoes a day.

Shopper Ann Gaines of Antioch - wearing a Nike hat, turtleneck, nylon sweat suit, socks and shoes - still remembers buying her first pair of Nikes as a college student in 1974.

"I'm definitely into the Nike craze now, but when I first got them it was because they were so comfortable," said Gaines as she waited in line with her son and his friends - who are also avid aficionados of anything Nike.

"I just love the style," said the high school basketball player, who also has shopped at NikeTown stores in Georgia and Oregon.

But many passersby just shook their heads in dismay at all the fuss.

"This is amazing," laughed Myriam Lesnik Chavez of Hillsborough. "Everyone is into this mass culture mentality and they want everything the same. It's a very sad commentary on pop culture. My sons and I just came from the art gallery across the street - and it's empty." &lt;